When I planned my trip to Napa, I truly wanted a unique experience, from visiting some cool wineries to tasting great wines. However, none prepared me for my eco-friendly stay at the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel. This Gold LEED certified property was the first hotel in the world to receive this designation and it is evident from the minute you walk in the bright and spacious lobby. Behind the registration desk, they feature three monitors which indicate electricity and water usage, and the CO2 that the hotel is generating. Guests can even check to see how much water or electricity the hotel has saved by accessing the user-friendly monitor across from check in.

Ben, the concierge, provides eco-tours of the hotel and it’s truly a must-see to learn all of the unique environmental features of the hotel. Everything in this hotel has been carefully considered from such as the tile in the lobby, plus all the carpets in the hotel and the granite sinks in the guest bathrooms contain 50% post consumer recycled content–including the fiber backing and pad for the carpet. The wood used is FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) approved. All wood used is new growth wood which means less time to grow back. The hotel uses as much natural light as possible from the Solatube tubular skylights that are used in the lobby, hallways and conference centre. To my eye, they first appears as typical lights.

I loved the fact that I could recycle not only newspapers in my room but cans and bottles. In each room, there is also a dispenser for soap, shampoo and conditioner which meant I truly had nothing in my room going to a landfill. To keep guests in a green frame of mind, a copy of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” is in all guests room to remind us all of the little things that we can do help our planet. Another neat feature is the fact of that the hotel purchases “fair trade” coffee for its room and you have a choice of the reading the Holy Bible or the Teachings of Buddha! Speaking of my room, I had the best night sleep in years and I was told by Ken Dickson the manager of the hotel, that he has many requests from guests to purchase the hotel pillows. All bedding is over 400 thread count and after an adventurous day in Napa it is so nice to get in this luxurious bed like this…zzzz.

Waking up the in the morning and seeing the swans was perfect. Truly a great start to the day. The swans, ducks, fish and frogs also play a key role in providing natural insect control which means no nasty pesticides. All plants around the property are indigenous to the area which means less watering and fuss.

With so many people being environmentally conscious these days, your stay at the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel will truly be an experience to remember and this particular hotel has certainly led the way to a “greener” future for all of us.

One of my favourite beach spots in Ontario happens to be Sandbanks
Provincial Park.  It’s hard to believe you are swimming in Lake Ontario
since the water is so warm and clean.  This amazing beach spot is also in
the heart of Prince Edward County and some amazing wineries.

My favourite wine for the beach happens to be Riesling with it’s lower
alcohol  and great acidity making it very food friendly.  Therefore a stop
at Norman Hardie’s winery is always a must.  The winery is located just
seconds of Hwy 33 (Loyalist Parkway) at Greer Road.

Hardie has just released his 2007 Riesling, which if you are an Alsatian
style fan, this Riesling is a must try.  The nose gives you green apple,
peach and apricot with some nice minerality.  The finish is dry, Alsatian
style, balanced out with great acidity and fruit.

We paired this wine with some picnic style salads from Whole Foods in
Toronto, all of which paired very well.  Another great thing about Hardie’s
bottles is that they come with a screw cap so you don’t have to worry about
having a corkscrew on hand.  If you stop in, let Norm know you are going to
the beach and he’ll be sure to give you a cold one or two straight from his
refrigerator.

It’s that dreaded time of year in the Toronto, so to speak, with diners coming to some truly fine dining restaurants in the City for Applebee’s prices.   What upsets us in the industry is that the majority of the guests will order the $30-35 prix fixe menu (some will even order meals to “share”), have only having tap water, definitely no wine (yikes!), and leave a meagre tip.  After reading a story last week in the Toronto section of the National Post, I can understand why some great restaurants are not participating.

Last night was the first night of Summerlicious here in T.O. and do you think I can get into a popular non-Summerlicious restaurant?  Not a chance in hell, unless I want a 9:30 p.m. table.    In the end I decided to call up Trevor Kitchen & Bar, who is participating in Summerlicious, and I can get a table for 8 pm, no sweat.   Upon arrival, we are greeted and seated right away. A somewhat reproachful server asks us the dreaded question:  would we like some water, still, sparkling or ahh…tap?   We immediately order a bottle of sparking which the server beams he’ll bring right away.   After that we order our 3 course “prix fixe,” then I do the unthinkable and order a decent bottle of wine!  Well, let me tell you the service I had that evening was bang on.   The server happily kept our wine and water topped up and after each course wanted to know how we were enjoying everything.  He even excitedly decanted our young pinot noir and removed the cheesy wine tumblers and brought us proper Burgundy glasses, all without asking.

Take my word for it, make this year’s Summerlicious experience memorable–order a bottle of wine and enjoy the best that fine dining has to offer!